forcing a file download with php

Question

I know how to make the download occur, when the download happens it appends the html from the web page that causes the download. How do I filter out the HTML?

Answer 1

If I understand you correctly it's a common problem. I solved it by using ob_start at the beginning of my index.php (start/root/entry file) before ANY output occures and for the download I do the following:

  ob_end_clean();
  header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream; "); 
  header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary"); 
  header("Content-Length: ". filesize("thefileinquestion").";"); 
  header("Content-disposition: attachment; filename=thefileinquestion");
  $fp = fopen(thefileinquestion, "r"); 
  while(!feof($fp)){
    $buffer = fread($fp, 1024); 
    echo $buffer;
    flush(); 
  } 
  fclose($fp);
  die();

Update

The ob_start command buffers any output (eg via echo, printf) and prevents anything being send to the user BEFORE your actual download. The ob_end_clean than stops this behavior and allows direct output again. HTH.